Protective apparel may be worn by surgeons and other caregivers or other medical personnel in order to protect patients from infection. Orthopedic procedures and particularly those involving exposed bone are very susceptible to infection and osteomyelitis. Therefore protective apparel may be used to create a sterile field, typically achieved by a gown, often referred to as a “toga” that provides a barrier between the healthcare professionals and the patient.
In some cases, helmets may be worn on the head of the surgical staff supporting the protective apparel. Such helmets are exposed, open-air helmet that may include a built-in fan and that cooperate with a whole-body disposable “toga” that works specifically with the helmet. The purpose of this is to provide a complete impervious sterile layer around the surgeon/staff for bloody orthopedic cases while having a fan element inside in order to facilitate cooling. Because of the necessity to maintain sterility, the entire outer toga is sterile and disposable so that it can be worn as a complete sterile barrier.
In current protective garments, the reusable cooling system, which may be in the form of a wrap-around head frame, is enclosed within a disposable barrier. As a result, the outer disposable barrier must be completely sterile and must be carefully draped over the head frame. It is difficult to don the protective toga aseptically, because the toga must somehow drape over the exposed helmet and over the body without touching or being contaminated by a non-sterile surface. As a result, it usually takes at an extra person to assist the surgeon with donning the helmet and the toga before surgery. Additionally, because the disposable part is typically a fabric or non-woven that is draped over the exposed helmet, there is an element of drag and instability when moving around with the toga.
Fans have been incorporated into the helmet and positioned on top of the user's head, and may add even more weight to the helmet further exacerbating the weight and center of gravity issues described above. The fan may draw air in through the gown material and may result in increased current drain on the fan. This may result in reduced battery life or an increased size of the power source to effectively transport air into the interior space of the protective suit.
Thus, there is a need for a protective apparel system including a reusable cooling system in which all of the cooling elements are enclosed inside a protective helmet-like device, a disposable barrier and a toga. The disposable barrier is mated to a lower portion of the helmet thereby permitting surgical staff to don a toga and helmet while maintaining toga sterility.
The various aspects, features and advantages of the disclosure will become more fully apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the following Detailed Description thereof with the accompanying drawings described below.